Attention health, research and science assignment editors
For immediate release -
2006-37
Ottawa (September 15, 2006) Earlier today results of the DREAM trial were presented at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. Dr. Diane Finegood, based in Vancouver, and the Scientific Director of CIHR's Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes is available to comment on the significance of the findings.
"The results of both the HOPE and DREAM studies offer us new strategies for preventing and delaying the onset of diabetes and its devastating complications" said Dr. Finegood.
The clinical trial was headed by Drs. Hertzel Gerstein and Salim Yusuf, CIHR-funded researchers at McMaster University. The funding of this trial was made possible via the CIHR/Rx&D Collaborative Research Program. The findings were published today in The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine.
Dr. Finegood, is available to comment in English on the prevalence of diabetes, the complexity of the factors behind this disease and the impact that the DREAM trial results will have on those affected by type 2 diabetes.
"With an estimated 1 in 3 people born in the year 2000 likely to develop diabetes in their lifetime, we need to do all we can to identify effective treatment and prevention strategies," said Dr. Finegood.
"With funding from CIHR, Drs. Gerstein and Yusuf were able to lead this important multi-national effort requiring the cooperation of investigators and their staff at 191 sites in North and South America, Europe, India and Australia," she added.
- 30 -
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's agency for health research. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to catalyze its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian health care system. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to over 10,000 health researchers and trainees across Canada. www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/
CIHR/Rx&D Collaborative Research Program enables scientists, clinicians and members of the full spectrum of health professions, and Rx&D members to optimize opportunities in clinical research benefiting the health of Canadians.
Canada's Rx&D is a national association representing over fifty research-based pharmaceutical companies in Canada. The mission of Rx&D is to improve the quality of life of all Canadians and enhance our health care system by fostering the discovery, development and availability of new medicines. www.canadapharma.org/
For further information, pictures or to arrange an interview with Dr. Finegood:Marie-France Poirier, CIHR Media SpecialistTel.: (613) 941-4563E-mail: mediarelations@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
